I don't think comparing franchise ownership with managers is a particularly fair place yeah? You have to put like a million in capital down at a minimum to open something like a chick fil a.
Chick-fil-a famously requires $10,000 to become a franchise "operator", but they require a heavy investment in time and energy and can be revoked at will. I think it's more appropriate to compare a chick-fil-a operator with an in-and-out manager, than it is to compare them to a mcd franchise owner.
About a decade ago a friend applied to become an owner-operator at Chik Fil A. He had years of experience managing multiple car washes, and a letter of recommendation from someone at corporate.
He made it from the initial multiple thousands of applicants to the second round of 500. Corporate told him to go work for 12+ months behind the counter in a Chik Fil A and then re-apply.
They had you rank your store location choices, and you moved where they told you to, if you were selected. I forget how many stores they were going to open a year, but I want to say it was around 100 back then.
